Carlos Paul: music as expression

March 3, 2013 00:03

Due to his music, the 32 year old Ecuadorian feels like a pillar of the Latin American community in London. Now, after a difficult process, he is preparing a new album and is immersed in numerous other projects.

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Carlos Paul

Benjamin Serra

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Carlos started to write songs when he was 15 years old as he needed to express his feelings through music. He claims that it is the music that finds the person and not the other way around.

“I had a broken family and needed to express the anxiety and desire to make things right, so my first songs have a sense of angst and sadness”, recalls the young musician, originally from Quito.

Carlos Paul speaks with The Prisma about his career, his style and his short and long-term plans within the music world.

Why did you decide to dedicate your life to music?

That is not something I believe you can decide, the music chooses you. When you grow up you feel the need to express yourself and each person does this in their own way: aggressively, physically, artistically … And music has allowed me to express myself.

What do you want to communicate with your songs?

The feeling of not being alone. Living outside your own country and not be with your people and your family provokes nostalgia. It may be sad but I’m glad because I have learned from it. I had a hard time making the transition from a sad artist to the more positive artist I wanted to be.

How was the transition?

Like a roller coaster of experiences and moments. It has been a process that has helped me to write music and also to feel better as a person. My music is also a means of expression of the community who want to improve their situation.

Have you always played ballads?

Yes. I feel love, the desire to share, to get ahead, to fall in and out of love and the ballad helps me to communicate this; all in a pop-rock style.

Have you thought about making more commercial music?

I’d like to get into a more open market and in order to do that I need to make more commercial music, but it’s hard because I don’t enjoy it. With pop music you listen to, you applaud, it is over, but it is how the music makes you feel that remains with you.

Many people from various countries have told me that my songs have touched them and changed their life – something I find very rewarding.

Is it possible to combine commercial music with what you want to convey?

Possibly not. All musicians arrive at a moment when they must make the decision to jump across the gap and risk doing things different and unknown; a decision which many will criticize you for. When I write my material, my core being is in those lyrics. As a musician, and not having achieved the level of fame I would have liked, I’m working on taking that leap.

Is it difficult to enter the British market with music in Spanish?

Yes, it is almost impossible to hear a Spanish song on the radio because there isn’t an obvious link with the British public. Online radio stations don’t have a big audience or sufficient funding to support Latin American musicians in this part of the world.

How can you create that link?

As musicians we need to create a link creating lyrics and songs that unite us. It is what Pitbull has done, in a way. It’s not a style of music that I follow, but he has shown a way of connecting the two markets. Perhaps in a decade or two, but we’re trying. We will never have a better opportunity than now with the amount of Latin immigration.

How has the music been received?

It has always been good. The Colombian community opened the door for me at first, followed by the Ecuadorian, Bolivian and Spanish communities. We have shared experiences and concerts and I have received huge support.

Are you involved in music aside from composing and singing?

Many musicians have retired because they have not had necessary support to so we are creating a foundation to help musicians called “My Ecuador UK”, aiming to guide and help the artists grow but not lose their artistic integrity.

“Sing if you can” was a small but very important event, a beautiful experience. Now we want to organize “Sing if you can Latino”, for the Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese communities

What projects do you have now?

I have my music in the recording process and finally a decade later we will be able to release the album, but this time with songs more closely related to current issues combined with the messages I want to portray, of unity, peace, love and progress.